100% Achievements Guide [SPOILERS]

This is a complete guide to Banner Saga 3 achievements. I wrote this guide for two reasons: 1) I love Banner Saga series, with all its complexity of storytelling and great combat; 2) I had a lot of trouble with some of the achievements and searched everywhere for answers, never finding one place with complete information and sometimes not finding answers at all.
So I tried to keep this guide as comprehensive and detailed as humanly possible, gathering information from various sources and my own experiences, so whatever achievement problem you are having, you will hopefully find your answer here. If you do not, let me know, maybe I forgot to include some piece of information and can help further.
And, as always, this guide logically contains major spoilers for the game. You have been warned.

Understanding Arberrang

There were some controversial narrative choices made in Banner Saga 3. Basically, the better you play the game, the less content you will see.
In Chapters 16-20 you (with Rook or Alette) will be making various decisions that will affect the number of clansmen, fighters, varl and supplies you have, as well as decisions that will affect the city of Arberrang as a whole (how sturdy are its walls for example). All those decisions will ultimately affect how long the city can survive in Chapter 21, will give you certain number of days of survival - represented on a so-called doomsday timer. The better you did (the bigger your clan, the more supplies, the stronger the walls etc.), the more days you get.
In Chapter 21, time will be passing as Iver’s caravan travels to its destination. In this chapter, you as Iver also make decisions that affect how fast your group is moving (so consequently, how fast the doomsday timer will run out).
If your doomsday timer runs out at any point here (reaches the end of day 0), the game will leave Iver for a while and return to Arberrang. There you will again have some events and make choices that will affect how many additional days of survival you will get. This is referred to as “return to Arberrang”.
This process can repeat up to five times. Meaning, you can get up to 5 returns to Arberrang and subsequent chances to acquire additional survival days. If your doomsday timer would run out for the sixth time before Iver’s caravan reaches its destination, you lose the city of Arberrang and everyone in it as darkness takes it over.

So why am I telling you this?

There is a lot of stuff happening during those returns to Arberrang that you simply will not see if you did well in chapters 16-20 and you have a strong clan. And there are some achievements that require you to return to Arberrang three, four or even all five possible times. Otherwise, you will not be able to unlock them. I will be referring to “returns to Arberrang” and “doomsday timer” throughout this guide.

So, seriously, how do I return to Aberrang only once in my playthrough?

During each event listed in the “How to get some control” section below chose the option marked as THE BEST (« TB). Getting one return to Aberrang is much easier with an imported save that has already a strong caravan. The difference between an imported save and a premade characters can be staggering. Premade starts with 268 clansman, 294 fighters, 115 varl and 3 days of supplies; while an imported save can have over 900 clansmen, well over 300 fighters, close to 250 varl and even 16 days of supplies. Such an “uber” save, combined with all the best decisions made in Banner Saga 3 can even manage 0 returns to Arberrang.
However, if you do always chose THE BEST option, you should have no trouble returning to Arberrang only once in your playthrough.
If you are playing on such mentioned “uber” save form Banner Saga 2 and you are worried you will not return to Aberrang at all, use Dredge Godstone as your time regulator. It takes 5 days for Iver’s caravan to reach their destination form the Dredge Godstone on their highest speed (with all THE BEST options chosen). The game will allow you to rest here until you get 0 days and the maximum amount of additional days that you can get during the first return to Arberrang is 8 (10 if you did not kill Ruin in Chapter 18). So just rest at the Dredge Godstone until you hit 0 days on doomsday timer and afterwards make all THE BEST decisions during your first return to Arberrang.

So, seriously, how do I return to Arberrang all possible 5 times?

During each event listed in the “How to get some control” section below chose the option marked as THE WORST (« TW). If you are playing on a save from Banner Saga 2 that has a very strong clan and lots of supplies (what I called the “uber” save just above), you may still not be able to screw it up enough to get 5 returns to Arberrang. So this is best attempted with a more modest save or a premade Rook/Alette.
If you want to return to Aberrang all five times but still be sure that the city will not be destroyed (that you will not run out of time for the sixth time), use Dredge Godstone as your time regulator. It takes 5 days for Iver’s caravan to reach their destination form the Dredge Godstone on their highest speed (with all THE BEST options chosen) and around 8.5 days on their lowest speed (with all THE WORST options chosen). So you can use that information (plus information on maximum and minimum number of days that you can get during various returns to Arberrang) to regulate how many days you should rest at the Godstone.

So, what if I only want to return to Arberrang like 3-4 times?

This is of course more ticky and specific situation will depend on whether you are playing on a save or on a premade Rook/Alette. I would recommend choosing all THE WORST (« TW) options during Chapters 16-20 and then regulating your doomsday timer as needed with various choices (THE WORST or THE BEST) made during Chapter 21 and returns to Arberrang. Also, if you do not manage to hit your mark, you can always replay just the Chapter 21.
Use Dredge Godstone as your time regulator. It takes 5 days for Iver’s caravan to reach their destination form the Dredge Godstone on their highest speed (with all THE BEST options chosen) and around 8.5 days on their lowest speed (with all THE WORST options chosen). So you can use that information (plus information on maximum and minimum number of days that you can get during various returns to Arberrang) to regulate how many days you should rest at the Godstone.

Understanding Arberrang - How to Get Some Control

Below I will list all the events and choices that will affect your doomsday timer. “The best” options («TB) will give you the most survival days, “The worst” options («TW) will give you the least.
Chapter 16, supplies to buy at market:

• Buy as much as you think you can afford. « TB
  
• Buy none. « TW

Chapter 16, a clan wants to join:

• "We’ve already got more clansmen...” (+0.25 day)
  
• “Any allies are welcome…” (100 clansmen, 10 fighters, 50 supplies, +0.5 day) « TB
  
• "Keep your head down...” (+0.1 day) « TW

Chapter 16, Petrus ambushed:

• Help him fight. Gudmundr will come during this fight and afterwards he will want to join you. Agree (+113 clansmen, +54 fighters, +13 supplies) « TB
  
• Do not help Petrus or do not agree to Gudmundr joining. « TW

Chapter 16, choosing campsite:

• Camp by the gate - -149 clansmen, -43 fighters at the beginning of Chapter 18. « TW
  
• Camp near the top or let Oddleif decide - -57 clansmen, -16 fighters at the beginning of Chapter 18. « TB

Chapter 16, the King:

• Say that clansman have many needs, and then chose "We are short on food and supplies" (+100 supplies), « TB
  
• Say that clansman have many needs, and then "We need protection" (+20 fighters);
  
• Say that clansman have many needs, and then "We need a safe place" (clan moves camp to the black rock and you will lose nobody at the beginning of Chapter 18).
  
• All other options. « TW

Chapter 18, the varl:

• "Just do us this favor..." (many varl leave, Fasolt leaves, Hakon stays); « TB
  
• “Idiot! Use your head..." (all varl leave); « TW
  
• "Help us and you'll have half our remaining supplies..." (all varl stay, -50% of supplies).

Chapter 18, fixing the wall:

• "Do as much as you can..." (wall fixed, Egil dies);
  
• "Send word to the caravan..." (-20 clansmen, wall somewhat fixed); « TB
  
• “Pass them by” (wall not fixed). « TW

Chapter 18, at the boats:

• “You're just going to let them?" (+0.1 day); « TW
  
• “Break up the crowd of deserters" (+0.25 day); « TB
  
• "Force Petrus to stop the ships..." (+0.5 day, Egil dies).

Chapter 18, Nid:

• "Stay, Nid. I've known cowards..." (+1 day, Nid stays). « TB
  
• Other options (Nid leaves). « TW

Chapter 18, people need help:

• "Leave your own fighters to protect..." (45 clansmen, -12 fighters),
  
• "Evacuate as many as you can..." (94 clansmen); « TB
  
• "Strike hard at the dredge..." (54 clansmen);
  
• “Call to those nearby..." (13 clansmen). « TW

Chapter 20, Ubin chat:

• “I don't know...” (+0.1 day)
  
• “We've had enough trouble...”. « TW
  
• "Are you sure they want that?" and then "Approach the horseborn..." (+23 fighters, +0.2 day);
  
• "Are you sure they want that?" and then "Have a horseborn ally speak..." and chose Derdriu (no effect);
  
• Are you sure they want that?" and then "Have a horseborn ally speak..." and chose Ro’Ech (+34 fighters, +0.2 day);
  
• Are you sure they want that?" and then "Have a horseborn ally speak..." and chose Scathach (+57 fighters, +0.2 day) « TB

Chapter 20, wall repair needed:

• "Give them a token number of volunteer fighters..." (-5 fighters);
  
• “Give them enough fighters..." (-20 fighters, +2 day); « TB
  
• "Ignore them”. « TW

Chapter 20, starving people

• "Share your own personal supply..." (-5 supplies);
  
• "Leave a sizable bundle..." (-25 supplies); « TW
  
• "Ignore the beggars" or "Promise...". « TB

Chapter 20, Dredge Killer:

• "I know as much as any of you" (45 clansmen);
  
• "Hold out hope...” (112 clansmen); « TB
  
• "Things are bad..." (57 clansmen);
  
• "Leave me alone...". « TW

In Chapter 21 you will get several opportunities to regulate how fast Iver’s caravan is going.

Everyone is dizzy:

• "A short rest." (-0.9 day);
  
• "We shouldn't stop now." (-1.7 day); « TW
  
• "Walk it off, milk maids" (no slowdown). « TB

Monster sighted:

• "Hide within a dredge dwelling..." (-1.6 day); « TW
  
• "Split into groups..." (-1.1 day);
  
• "Run for it..." (no slowdown). « TB

Spiky grass:

• "Move carefully..." (-2.1 days); « TW
  
• "Let Folka and others bash a path" (-0.5 day if you don’t have Folka, otherwise no slowdown); « TB
  
• "Keep up your pace..." (-1.3 day)

Frozen ocean:

• "Maybe for small folk..." (-1.6 day); « TW
  
• "Spread out in single file..." (no slowdown); « TB
  
• "Rest and prepare..." (-1 day)

Search for Juno:

• "Separate into two groups..." (no slowdown, Bak dies); « TB
  
• "Methodically comb..." (-1.1 day);
  
• "Keep heading in your current direction" (-2.7 days). « TW

Godstone Dredge. You can rest here as many times as you want until your doomsday timer reaches 0.

• Don’t rest « TB
  
• Rest as long as possible « TW

Strange mushrooms:

• "Step up..." (no slowdown); « TB
  
• “Any volunteers” (-0.5 days);
  
• “Don’t risk...” (-1 day). « TW

Dredge dwellings.

• “Make your way around the masses” (-1 day). « TW
  
• Other options (no slowdown) « TB

Dredge bodies.

• "I don't know..." (no slowdown); « TB
  
• "Inspect the dredge..." (-0.4 day);
  
• "Tell everyone to spread out..." (-1.2 day) « TW

1st return to Arberrang choices that give additional days.

Funeral

• "Say a quiet prayer..." (+3 days)
  
• "Give a speech..." (+4 days) « TB
  
• "Raise a feast..." (+2 days) « TW

Outskirts

• "Combine and ration..." (+1.5 day)
  
• "Send armed forces to pillage..." (+2 days) « TB
  
• "Encourage everyone to fend for themselves" (+1 day) « TW

The walls

• "The walls are yours, Ludin..." (+3 days) « TB
  
• "Petrus, gather your guards..." (+2 days)
  
• "I'm putting the horseborn to work..." (+2 days)
  
• "We can't spare anyone..." (+1 day) « TW

Ruin (if you did not kill her in Chapter 18)

• "Improve fortifications..." (+1 day)
  
• "Send a mender..." « TW
  
• "Save your time..." (+2 days) « TB

2nd return to Arberrang choices that give additional days.

Twisted clansmen

• Left no one in charge of the wall during the 1st return (Petrus and Ludin die, +0.5 day).
  
• Left Ludin in charge (+1.3 day) « TB
  
• Left Petrus in charge (+0.7 day)
  
• Left Scathach in charge (Scathach dies, +0.4 day) « TW

Fire!

• "Rally able bodies...." and then "Cut your losses..." (+0.3 days)
  
• "Rally able bodies..." and then "Double down and get the varl..." (+0.6 days, Griss dies)
  
• "Let things play out..." (+0.3 days) « TW
  
• "This is an opportunity..." (+0.9 days) « TB

Canary - Derdriu spat

• “Break up the two...” (+0.5 days)
  
• “Convince Canary to put her weapon down” (+0.7 days) « TB
  
• “Try to find out what happened…” (+0.3 day) « TW

3rd return to Arberrang choices that give additional days.

Basement

• "Save the supplies..." (+1.4 days) « TB
  
• "Use the barrels to help..." (+0.7 days)
  
• "Rouse the drunks..." (Tryggvi dies, +0.7 days) « TW

Tower

• "Forget the watch..." (+1.3 days) « TB
  
• "The strong protect the weak..." (+0.9 days)
  
• "Force everyone to take their fair turn" (Hogun dies, +0.3 days) « TW

4th return to Arberrang choices that give additional days.

The stairs
If you lost the battle, you will have no choices (Gunnulf dies, +0.1 days)
If you won the battle but do not have Gunnulf,

• "Say prayers..." (+0.3 days) « TB
  
• "Dig out as many bodies..." (+0.2 days)
  
• "Raise the collapsed wall..." (Egil dies, +0.1 days). « TW

If you won the battle and have Gunnulf,

• "Tell Gunnulf to let go..." (+0.4 days) « TB
  
• "Dig through the rubble..." (Gunnulf dies, +0.3 days) « TW
  
• "Get more people to help..." (Gunnulf and Egil die, +0.5 days)

Rugga the cockroach (if you did not kill him earlier):

• Whatever you choose: Rugga dies, +0.1 day.

Hakon - Canary argument

• "Stop this!...” (+0.3 days) « TB
  
• "We don't have to like each other..." (+0.2 days)
  
• "I'm done playing the peacemaker..." (+0.1 days) « TW

Dallren

• "You're right, Dallren..." (+0.5 days) « TB
  
• "I know everyone won't make it..." (+0.3 days)
  
• "Nobody starves..." (+0.1 days) « TW

5th return to Arberrang choices that give additional days.

You will get a choice to fight or retreat three times. Each time you choose to fight, you will get one day (so up to 3 days) of survival.

Story Achievements

The following achievements unlock as you progress through the story and cannot be missed.

An honored guest

Spoke with King Meinolf in Chapter 16.

Which Witch

Alfrun joined the the caravan.

Godstone Denglr Redux

Return to the godstone Denglr.

Shortcut

Arrive safely at Ridgehorn.

Thin Ice

Survive the trek across the frozen sea.

Godstone dredge

Visit the godstone of the dredge.

Difficulty Achievements

Normal Difficulty

Complete the game on Normal difficulty.

Pretty self-explanatory. You have to start the game on Normal difficulty and you can never lower the difficulty during the whole playthrough.

Hard Difficulty

Complete the game on Hard difficulty.

Pretty self-explanatory. You have to start the game on Hard difficulty and you can never lower the difficulty during the whole playthrough. If you played BS2 on hard difficulty, you will have no problems with this one - it is much easier.

Finish Strong

Complete the game on Hard difficulty level without losing a single battle.

You do not need to fight all the battles in the game or even fight all the waves of each battle (you can chose to flee between waves) for this one. You just need to win every battle you fight. Also, if a fight is not going well for you, you can just reload it before you get a defeat screen and try again.

Heros and Levels Achievements

AKA

Award a heroic title.

A heroic title can be awarded to a character when he/she reaches level 11. If you loaded a save from BS2, you definitely will have some heroes that can be promoted to level 11 (and even 15) right away. If you start with premade Rook/Alette, your heroes will be level 8 and will need to rack up some kills before they can reach level 11.
After you have a level 11 hero, simply choose one of the heroic titles for him/her. Beware, the titles are unique and there is a limited amount of them, you will not be able to give a title to everyone. So make sure to choose well.

Apostate

Defeat 3 enemies with the Apostate.

If you start with a premade Rook/Alette, you will have Apostate in Iver’s group. If you loaded your save from BS2, it is possible that you will not have Apostate at all. Ravens encounter Apostate in BS2 in the mines of Bindal and you can decide if you want to allow him to join - so if you didn't allow that, you will not have him in BS3.
For this achievement, simply include Apostate in your fighting roster and make sure he performs 3 killing blows (does not have to be during the same battle).

Bastion

Defeat 3 enemies with the Bastion.

Bastion can join your group at the beginning of Chapter 20. For this to happen, you have to chose to open the gate for the dredge. For this achievement, simply include Bastion in your fighting roster and make sure he performs 3 killing blows (does not have to be during the same battle).

Bromance

Put Gudmundr and Petrus into battle together 5 times.

Petrus will join you automatically in Chapter 16, as his king commands.
Gudmundr can join you in Chapter 16 under certain conditions. First of all, he has to be alive (Gudmundr can die in Chapter 11 of Banner Saga 2), so make sure you are playing on a save that has him living. The premade Rook/Alette starts have Gudmundr alive. Second of all, when escorting Rugga to the King, you will be ambushed by Rugga's loyalists. Choose to either help Petrus in a fight or stay close to Rugga. Both choices will lead to battle, during which Gudmundr will join you. Third of all, you need to agree to him joining you for good after the battle is over.
After you have both men with you, just put them together in a roster for five different battles.

Castaway

Defeat 3 enemies with the Castaway.

You meet Castaway in Chapter 19 at the godstone Denglr. There will be a women there that will want you to kill her. If you instead ask Alfrun about Castaway's side of the story, you will then be able to take her with you instead of killing her.
For this achievement, simply include Castaway in your fighting roster and make sure she performs 3 killing blows (does not have to be during the same battle).

Eww

Salvage a treasure trove in the darkness.

First, you will need to have Castaway in your caravan. In Chapter 19, Iver’s group will arrive at the Godstone Denglr. There you will meet a woman that will want you to kill a dredge hurler for her. Instead, ask Alfrun about dredge’s part of the story and afterwards ask her (also through Alfrun) to join you.
Later in the same chapter you will come across some skulker eggs. Castaway will let you know that she wants to pick up some of those eggs. If you allow her to do that, she will gain a new ability and you will get the achievement.

Living Legend

Promote a hero to rank 15.

15 is a level cap in the game. You will get this achievement as soon as you promote any character to level 15 (that hero will need to have enough kills to be promoted and you will need enough renown of course).

Pass It On

Pass Juno's Weaved Energy buff 4 times before it expires.

Juno casts her Weaved Energy on one character and it travels to the next adjacent character, than to the next adjacent one and so on in a chain until there are no more adjacent characters. So to do it easily, in any battle, just position all your 5 characters (not counting Juno herself) next to each other and cast Weaved Energy on the first person in line. You should get the achievement immediately. Remember that characters who connect only diagonally are not considered adjacent for the purpose of this skill (in contrast to Eyvind’s lightning).

Passive Aggressive

Use items and heroic titles to have 3 passive abilities on one character.

Every character in the game has his own passive ability - that is the first one.
Second one you can get from an item. Some items provide passive abilities, which is signified by the description written in yellow letters. Simply equip such an item to gain a second passive.
Third passive you get from heroic titles - not all titles provide a passive ability. The ones that definitely do: Shadow Walker, Twice-Born, Wanderer, Last Standing. So get one character to level 11 and choose an appropriate heroic title for him/her, level up that title if needed, to gain a third passive.
After you have all three, deploy that character in battle to gain the achievement.

Scrivener

Defeat 3 enemies with Ubin.

Ubin will automatically join your group during the battle with Ruin at the end of Chapter 18 and stay with you afterwards. For this achievement, simply include Ubin in your fighting roster and make sure he performs 3 killing blows (does not have to be during the same battle).

Witch

Defeat 3 enemies with Alfrun.

Alfrun will join Iver's group at the beginning of Chapter 17 after the battle in Skrog’s great hall.
For this achievement, simply include Alfrun in your fighting roster and make sure she performs 3 killing blows (does not have to be during the same battle).

Battle Achievements

Double Blind

Put an end to the warped Sundr.

You will meet the warped Sundr on your 3rd return to Aberrang during the battle in the basement. But he will only be there if you did not kill the Eyeless in the previous part of Banner Saga. If you killed the Eyeless, this battle will be a wave battle and will not contain any warped Sundr. Premade Rook/Alette have Eyeless alive.
To get to 3rd return to Aberrang, you will need to waste some time / make a bit of bad decisions. Refer to “Understanding Arberrang” sections of this guide for more details.
Just kill the Eyeless and win the basement battle and the achievement is yours.

Fighting to live

Successfully hold out to the bitter end.

For this one you will have to return to Arberrang all 5 possible times (refer to “Understanding Arberrang” section of this guide for more info about that). On the fifth return, you will get a choice to either fight to defend the keep or retreat. Chose to fight. After that first fight, you will get the choice again and then again after the second fight. After the third fight, you will automatically retreat. Always chose to fight rather then retreat. Win all of those three fights and you will get the achievement.

Horseborn Rampage

Minimized casualties during 'disagreement' over horseborn.

In Chapter 16, you will get a battle with some drunken idiots that don't take kindly to your horseborn allies. During this battle, only kill the rabble rousers dressed in blue - there is two of them and the fight will end when you kill them. You can hurt the other enemies but they must survive.

Mixed Martial Arts

Win a battle with at least one human, horseborn, varl, and dredge in the fight.

This is only possible with Alette’s/Rook’s caravan, as there are no horseborn with Iver. The earliest you can do that is after the events at the gate in Chapter 20. Here you have to decide to open the gate for the dredge - this way you will get Bastion (dredge stoneguard). Whatever you do and decide during the course of the game, you will always have some humans, horseborn and at least one varl (Ubin).
After you get Bastion, just deploy a party containing him, any varl, any human, and any horseborn into battle.

Pacified

Put Bolverk to rest once and for all.

The last battle of the game is where you find Bolverk and his dredge. Simply win it.

Rings a Bell

Fail to learn your lesson the first time.

In Chapter 21, Iver's group will come upon a dredge godstone. When you get there, an event will pop up in which you should choose to pull the bell rope hard. That will trigger a battle and you will see a big bell in the almost-middle of the battlefield. Animation will show slight waves of sound emanating from the bell. When they stop (so the bell stops ringing), you will be able to ring the bell again - just target it while standing next to it as you would any enemy and attack. This will summon more enemies and give you the achievement.
The bell will not be targetable while it's ringing, so you have to wait for it to stop. The bell can only be rang 3 times in this battle before it breaks. If the enemy rings a bell (and they will try), it does not count for the achievement. One of your characters has to do it.

Ruined

Defeat Ruin on the battlefield.

You fight Ruin at the end of Chapter 18. Simply win the battle and the achievement is yours.

Trapped

Trap two enemies in sinkholes.

Only one battle in a whole game has sinkholes - the first battle of Chapter 21 caused by Dytch getting his leg stuck in a hole. To get this achievement, you will have to purposefully PUSH two enemies into sinkholes. You can do that using skills that knock the enemies back - Iver’s Battering Ram, Egil’s Guts, Kivi's/Bastion's Kindle - or by equipping an item that provides knockback on some character who will then knock back every enemy he/she damages for enough strength. Do this twice and the achievement is yours.
If you don't quite manage, you can always reload and try again.
Enemies walking into sinkholes on their own do not count.

Warmongering Achievements

Looter

Defeat the final wave of every wave battle in the game.

To get this one you will have to finish every wave of every wave battle in the game. So never choose the option to “Flee” between waves and be sure you get a respite between the waves, so you will get the item reward at the end. There are 12 possible wave battles in the game but one of them definitely does not count for this achievement, so you need to find and fight through 11 of them. Here is the list of all wave battles and how to find them:

1. Chapter 17, the tutorial wave battle (2 waves). Impossible to miss.
   
2. Chapter 18, first wall breach battle (3 waves). Impossible to miss.
   
3. Chapter 18, battle on the way to Ruin (2 waves). Very missable! To get to this battle you will need to do two things. First, chase away Canary in Chapter 16 - when she admits to destroying and looting the village, tell her she is on her own. Second, insult the Varl in Chapter 18 - during conversation with Oddleif, Hakon and Fasolt, insult the varl by calling them “Idiots!” and they will all leave you.
   
4. Chapter 19, ambush at the beginning of the chapter (2 waves). Impossible to miss.
   
5. Chapter 19, battle in the brambles (3 waves). Impossible to miss.
   
6. Chapter 21, battle caused by Dytch’s talking (2 waves). Impossible to miss.
   
7. Chapter 21, first return to Arberrang, battle on the wall (2 waves). Practically impossible to miss unless you manage to never return to Arberrang in your playthrough. Refer to “Understanding Arberrang” section of this guide for more info about that.
   
8. Chapter 21, second return to Aberrang, battle on the wall (2 waves). Missable as you will need to get at least 2 returns to Arberrang to get to it. Refer to “Understanding Arberrang” section of this guide for more info about that.
   
9. Chapter 21, battle on the ice (3 waves). Impossible to miss.
   
10. Chapter 21, a battle near where dredge used to live, where you see some moving shadows (3 waves). Battle is impossible to miss but you can miss waves! For this battle to be a wave battle, you need to chose to “Find a good spot to stand your ground”.
    
11. Chapter 21, Bolverk battle (3 waves). The battle is impossible to miss but you can miss the waves. If you choose to ambush Bolverk during the dialogue, this battle will not be a wave battle.

There is one more possible wave battle. If you are playing on a save in which you killed Eyeless in previous part of the Banner Saga, a battle in the basement during your 3rd return to Arberrang will have waves. Yet this one does not seem to count to the achievement so it can easily be skipped.
The “Looter” unlocks at the end, way after the end credits stop playing and sometimes even way after you close the actual game. Weird as it is - just give it some time if it’s not unlocking for you right away.

Warmonger

Fight 30 battles in a single playthrough.

There are exactly 30 possible battles in the game. And some of them are very missable. To get all 30 battles you will need to return to Arberrang all 5 possible times. Refer to “Understanding Arberrang” section of this guide for more info about that. Here is a list of all the battles and how to unlock them.

1. Chapter 16, defending Arberrang wall. Unmissable.
   
2. Chapter 16, battle in Ruggas tent. To get this one you have to play on a save in which you are not allied with Rugga. If you loaded a save from Banner Saga 2 in which you allied yourself with Rugga at the end, you will not get this battle and your playthrough will have maximum of 29 battles. Premade Rook/Alette are not allied with Rugga.
   
3. Chapter 16, horseborn haters battle. Unmissable.
   
4. Chapter 16, Rugga’s loyalists ambush. Petrus will be ambushed by some Rugga’s loyalists. Here you need to choose to either join Petrus and attack or stay ready and close to Rugga. If you chose to stand aside, you will skip this battle.
   
5. Chapter 17, Strand great hall. Unmissable.
   
6. Chapter 17, Strand gate. Unmissable.
   
7. Chapter 18, first wall breach. Unmissable
   
8. Chapter 18, second wall breach. Unmissable.
   
9. Chapter 18, second Rugga’s ambush. Ambushed by Rugga’s rabble again! You need to chose to take care of it on your own. If you tell Petrus to go easy on them, you will skip this battle.
   
10. Chapter 18, on the way to Ruin. Very missable! To get to this battle you will need to do two things. First, chase away Canary in Chapter 16 - when she admits to destroying and looting the village, tell her she is on her own. Second, insult the Varl in Chapter 18 - during conversation with Oddleif, Hakon and Fasolt, insult the varl by calling them “Idiots!” and they will all leave you.
    
11. Chapter 18, Ruin battle. Unmissable.
    
12. Chapter 19, ambushed on a way to Ridgehorn. Unmissable.
    
13. Chapter 19, Ridgehorn bridge battle. Unmissable.
    
14. Chapter 19, battle in the brambles. Unmissable.
    
15. Chapter 19, in Ridgehorn village. Unmissable.
    
16. Chapter 20, rabble at the gate. Unmissable.
    
17. Chapter 20, defending the menders. Unmissable.
    
18. Chapter 21, sinkhole battle. Unmissable
    
19. Chapter 21, cause Dytch just won’t shut up. Unmissable
    
20. Chapter 21, on the ice. Unmissable
    
21. Chapter 21, at the bell. To initiate the battle, you need to pull hard on the rope of the bell when you get to the Dredge Godstone.
    
22. Chapter 21, at former dredge homes. Unmissable.
    
23. Chapter 21, 1st return to Arberrang. Only missable if you don’t return to Arberrang at all.
    
24. Chapter 21, 2nd return to Arberrang. Only missable if you don’t return to Arberrang twice.
    
25. Chapter 21, 3rd return to Arberrang. Only missable if you don’t return to Arberrang three times.
    
26. Chapter 21, 4th return to Arberrang. Only missable if you don’t return to Arberrang four times.
    
27. Chapter 21, 5th return to Arberrang, pre-pre last stand. Missable if you don’t manage to return to Arberrang 5 times. You need to chose to fight on rather than retreat to get this fight.
    
28. Chapter 21, 5th return to Arberrang, pre last stand. Missable if you don’t manage to return to Arberrang 5 times. You need to chose to fight on rather than retreat to get this fight.
    
29. Chapter 21, 5th return to Arberrang, the definite last stand. Missable if you don’t manage to return to Arberrang 5 times. You need to chose to fight on rather than retreat to get this fight.
    
30. Chapter 21, Bolverk battle. Unmissable.

You will get Warmonger as soon as you finish your 30th battle.

Hero Relations Achievement

Good Listener

Talk to at least 15 allies in Arberrang and the darkness.

There is only very limited amount of talks with allies available in the game and only those that are initiated when you click on the portrait of an ally seem to count for this. It is also sadly possible to have a save from Banner Saga 2 that will make this achievement impossible to get - if enough of the people who you would talk to in Banner Saga 3 died in your Banner Saga 1-2 playthrough (e.g. Yrsa, Ludin, Egil, Hogun), you will have no chance to get this one. Premade Rook/Alette have no problem with that.
To get enough chances to talk to your allies, you will need to return to Arberrang at least 3 times (refer to “Understanding Arberrang” section of this guide for more info about that). List of available chats:

• Chapter 16, Arberrang: Oddleif, Petrus
  
• Chapter 18, beginning: Rugga
  
• Chapter 18, after the first wall breach battle: Hakon
  
• Chapter 18, after the death of the king: Rugga, Ludin + Yrsa, Tryggvi
  
• Chapter 19, at Denglr Godstone: Folka, Alfrun
  
• Chapter 19, before Ridgehorn: Eirik (if he is with Iver’s caravan not with Rook’s/Alette’s), Berisi
  
• Chapter 19, Ridgehorn: Sparr
  
• Chapter 21, Dredge Godstone: Oli
  
• Chapter 21, 2nd return to Arberrang: Hogun
  
• Chapter 21, 3rd return to Arberrang: Ubin, Zefr, Egil (if he is still alive, see: “Guided” achievement for the details), Eirik (if he is with Rook’s/Alette’s caravan not with Iver’s)
  
• Chapter 21, 4th return to Arberrang: Mogr

Keep It Together

Finish the game with Hakon and Canary allied to you.

To keep those two allied with you, you need to do two things:

• Canary. In Chapter 16, when she admits to destroying and looting the village, tell her you will protect her, do not tell her she is on her own now.
  
• Hakon. In Chapter 18, during conversation with Oddleif, Hakon and Fasolt, do not tell him he is an idiot. He will leave you if you do that. Other options are fine.

Shipped

Accept the proposition.

This is only doable if you are playing Rook. At the end of Chapter 16, you go back to where your caravan is camped and talk to Oddelief. She proposes that you spend the night together. Respond with “Then I’m very much accepting” and both the achievement and the woman are yours.

Young Love

Do you like me? O-Yes / O-No

This is only doable if you are playing Alette. During your 3rd return to Arberrang, if Egil is alive, you will get an option to talk to him. Encourage him to talk, tell him you care about him and finally kiss him to unlock the achievement. How sweet.
To keep Egil alive up to this point, you will need to be careful in Chapter 18. If you waste too much time when traveling towards Ruin, you will be ambushed and Egil will die. So, when someone asks you to help with wall repairs, do not choose to do as much as you can (other two options are fine). And when you see some deserters, do not tell Petrus to tear the boats apart for wood (other two options are fine).
To get to 3rd return to Aberrang, you will need to waste some time / make a bit of bad decisions. Refer to “Understanding Arberrang” sections of this guide for more details.

Hero Count Achievements

Guided

Complete the game with all possible heroes still alive.

You need to keep all the heroes you start with and recruit along the way alive. Except for Rook and Alette, who can die at the gates. Can be done with a stock save or with a loaded save (with Egil in it).

How to keep everyone alive and well during the game:
Chapter 16

• Canary. Tell her you will protect her after she admits to destroying and looting the village.
  
• Gudmundr. When Petrus is ambushed by Rugga's loyalist, chose to help him. Gudmundr will appear during the fight and he will want to join you afterwards. Let him.

Chapter 18

• Varl. During conversation with Oddleif, Hakon and Fasolt, tell the varl that they can have half of your supplies if they help. All the varl will stay with you.
  
• Egil. If you waste too much time when traveling towards Ruin, you will be ambushed and Egil will die. So, when someone asks you to help with wall repairs, do not choose to do as much as you can. And when you see some deserters, do not tell Petrus to tear the boats apart for wood.
  
• Nid. She will want to leave you. Stop her by saying that she is no coward. Note: For some people, this does not seem to work and she leaves anyway. It may have something to do with how you treated Nid in previous parts of the Saga.

Chapter 19

• Castaway. In Chapter 19, Iver’s group will arrive at the Godstone Denglr. There you will meet a woman that will want you to kill a dredge hurler. Instead, ask Alfrun about dredge’s part of the story and afterwards ask her (through Alfrun) to join you.
  
• Sigbjorn. You will come to a narrow bridge. Do not choose to take an alternate route.
  
• Mogun. When you reach the brambles, do not chose to rest before you enter the woods.
  
• Folka. At the end of the Chapter, when Folka is talking to Bolverk, choose to pull her away.

Chapter 20

• Bastion, Oddleif, Rook/Alette. To keep Rook/Alette alive and get Bastion, you will need the aforementioned dredge baby. Chose to open the gates for the dredge and take the baby with you (if you open the gates without the baby in hand, Rook/Alette will be killed). If you are playing Rook or non-mender Alette, do not allow Oddleif to go with you (she will be killed). If your Alette is a mender, you can take Oddleif with you.

Chapter 21

• Bak. When searching the ice for Juno, do not split up the group.
  
• Iver’s caravan. Do not lose the last battle (Bolverk battle) as this will get almost everyone in Iver's group killed, except for Iver, Juno and Eyvind.
  
• Rook’s/Alette’s caravan. You need to get Iver’s caravan to its destination before your doomsday timer completely runs out (refer to “Understanding Arberrang” sections of this guide for details). If your time runs out for the sixth time, everyone in Arberrang will die.

1st return to Arberrang

• Scathach, Petrus, Ludin. In a talk with Zefr, choose Ludin or Petrus to protect the walls. If you chose Scathach, he will die on the next return to Arberrang. If you say that you can't spare anyone, Petrus and Ludin will die on the next return to Arberrang.

2nd return to Arberrang

• Derdriu. When you see her and Canary had a fight, do not choose an option to find out what happened.
  
• Griss. When dealing with the fire, do not try to put it out AND get varl involved in it afterwards.

3rd return to Arberrang

• Hogun. During the tower event, do not chose that everyone should take their fair share of the watches.
  
• Tryggvi. In the basement, when dealing with the drunken guys, do not try to rouse them to fight the warped.

4th return to Arberrang

• Gunnulf and Egil. When Gunnulf is holding the wall, tell him to stop and get to safety. Also, do not lose the battle during this return, Gunnulf will die if you do.

Scrape By

Complete the game with both caravans alive, but with fewer than 16 characters.

Depending on your save file, your Rook’s/Alette’s caravan can have up to 24 members at the end of the game. Iver’s caravan can have up to 18. So you will need to thin the herd.
With Iver’s caravan it is very easy. Just lose the last battle (Bolverk battle) and that will leave only 3 characters alive: Iver, Eyvind, Juno.
So you will need to have at most 12 characters at your Rook’s/Alette’s caravan at the end of the game. How many you will have to lose will depend on your starting situation.So just count your playable heroes in Rook’s/Alette’s caravan at the very start of the game and keep in mind that 3 others will join you whether you like it or not (Petrus in Ch. 16, Ubin in Ch. 20 and Zefr during the 1st return to Arberrang) - this way you will know how many heroes you need to get rid of. And here is a list of ways to do that:

• Chapter 16. Canary - when she admits to destroying and looting the village, tell her she is on her own now and she will leave you.
  
• Chapter 16. Gudmundr. When Petrus is ambushed by Rugga's loyalist, chose to stand aside and let things play out (this way you won’t fight at all). Or if you do chose to fight, tell Gudmundr that he cannot join you after the battle.
  
• Chapter 18. Five Varl. During conversation with Oddleif, Hakon and Fasolt, insult the varl by calling them “Idiots!”. That gets rid of: Fasolt, Gunnulf, Griss, Hakon, Mogr.
  
• Chapter 18. Egil. If you waste time when traveling towards Ruin, you will be ambushed and Egil will die. So, when someone asks you to help with wall repairs, choose to do as much as you can. And when you see some deserters, tell Petrus to tear the boats apart for wood.
  
• Chapter 18. Nid. Do not try to stop her when she wants to leave.
  
• Chapter 20. Rook/Alette/Bastion/Oddelief. If you do not have a dredge baby and you open the gate for the dredge, Rook/Alette will die but you will get Bastion. If you have the baby and you open the gate, your hero will be fine and you will get Bastion on top. But - Oddelief can die if you take her with you and you don’t have mender Alette. So: opening the gate will leave your hero numbers either the same or bigger by 1.
  
• 1st return to Arberrang. Scathach/Petrus/Ludin. In a talk with Zefr, choose Scathach to protect the walls, Scathach will die in the next return to Arberrang. Or say that you can't spare anyone to make both Petrus and Ludin die on the next return to Arberrang.
  
• 2nd return to Arberrang. Derdriu. When you see her and Canary had a fight, choose an option to find out what happened.
  
• 2nd return to Arberrang. Griss. When dealing with the fire, chose to try to put it out and then get varl to help you.
  
• 3rd return to Arberrang. Hogun. During the tower event, say that everyone should take their fair share of the watches.
  
• 3rd return to Arberrang.Tryggvi. In the basement, when dealing with the drunken guys, try to rouse them to fight the warped.
  
• 4th return to Arberrang. Hakon/Canary. When you see them arguing do not say “Stop this! Who amongst us isn't ready to die yet?”. This will lead to them joining you if they are not in your party.
  
• 4th return to Arberrang. Gunnulf/Egil. There is an event where Gunnulf is holding the wall. If you chose to dig through the rubble, Gunnulf will die. If you chose to go get more people, Gunnulf and Egil will both die.

You still need to get Iver’s caravan to its destination before your doomsday timer completely runs out (refer to “Understanding Arberrang” sections of this guide for details).

Weight of Decisions Achievements

Dredge Lover

End the game with all possible playable dredge alive.

To do this one, you have to gather and keep alive 3 dredge allies: Bastion, Castaway, Apostate. Kivi, the dredge hero you get as a pre-order/backer reward, does not count for this.

• Apostate. If you play with premade Rook/Alette, you will have him in Iver's caravan at the beginning of the game. But if you are playing on your own loaded save, there is a possibility that you will not have Apostate (if you didn't allow him to join you in the mines of Bindal back in Banner Saga 2). In that case, this achievement will be unachievable, so make sure your loaded save has Apostate in it.
  
• Castaway. In Chapter 19, Iver’s group will arrive at the Godstone Denglr. There you will meet a woman that will want you to kill a dredge hurler for her. Instead, ask Alfrun about dredge’s part of the story and afterwards ask her (also through Alfrun) to join you.
  
• Bastion. To get him you will have to chose to open the gate for the dredge in Chapter 20.

After you gather all three dredge, just make sure you don't lose the last battle (Bolverk battle) and the achievement will pop at the end credits.

Dredge Slayer

Leave no dredge alive.

This one is opposite to Dredge Lover, all 3 possible dredge allies have to be dead: Bastion, Castaway, Apostate. Kivi, the dredge hero you get as a pre-order/backer reward, does not count for this.
This achievement also requires you NOT to have a Dredge baby. If you have trouble unlocking this achievement while paying on imported save, play with a pre-made Rook/Alette instead.

The easiest way to do this is:

• Do not open the gate for the dredge in Chapter 20 (this way you will not get Bastion).
  
• Lose the last battle (Bolverk battle). This way everybody in Iver's group (besides Iver, Juno and Eyvind) will be dead. And that of course includes any dredge that were in Iver's group (weather they were fighting in the actual Bolverk battle or not).

There is one other way:

• Apostate. Start your game with a loaded save in which you did not allow Apostate to join your group in the mines of Bindal back in Banner Saga 2. This way Iver's group will not contain Apostate at the start of the game. This obviously is only possible if you have such a save.
  
• Castaway. In Chapter 19, Iver’s group will arrive at the Godstone Denglr. There you will meet a woman that will want you to kill a dredge hurler for her. Do it and Castaway will be dead (and you will even get a trinket from a lady if you don’t agree to killing right away). Or you can just choose to leave without either killing her or taking her with you - that also works.
  
• Bastion. Do not open the gate for the dredge in Chapter 20.

If you don't have any dredge heroes left, achievement will pop at the end credits.

Note: There may be a bug here as some people did not manage to unlock this achievement the easy way. It's possible that Apostate does not get flagged as dead even if you lose the Bolverk battle. If the bug is affecting you, the only way (for now) seems to be to play on a save in which you did not allow Apostate to join you in Banner Saga 2.

I'm Being Repressed

Now we see the violence inherent in the system.

In Chapter 18, you will need to kill Rugga while he is imprisoned. When you go with Oddleif to talk to him, choose the following conversation options:

• No, you're going to listen to me now! (Pummel Rugga).
  
• You won't come back from this. (Kill Rugga).
  
• No more chances (Finish Rugga).

You will kill Rugga for good and unlock the achievement.

Journey's End

See Rook or Alette safely to the end of the Saga.

Rook/Alette can die in Chapter 20, where you have to decide whether or not to open the gate for the dredge. If you chose to open the gate for the dredge and you do not have dredge baby (which you save or not in Banner Saga 1) with you, Rook/Alette will die. So if you do not have that baby, make sure not to open the gate for the dredge. If you have the baby, you can safely open the gate.
You also need to get Iver’s caravan to its destination before your doomsday timer completely runs out, meaning: runs out for the sixth time (refer to “Understanding Arberrang” section of this guide for details). If your time runs out for the sixth time, everyone in Arberrang will die.
If Rook/Alette stayed alive, achievement will pop at the end credits.


Sole Survivor

Juno wanders alone for all eternity.

To get this grim achievement you need to:

• In Chapter 21, lose the last battle (Bolverk battle).
  
• In Chapter 22, when Eyvind is talking to the serpent chose “Strike down Eyvind while he's distracted”.

This way Alfrun will be killed by Bolverk, Iver will kill Eyvind and there will be nobody left to finish the ritual. Darkness wins and you get an achievement.

Talk It Out

Convince Eyvind to do the right thing.

In Chapter 22, you have to convince struggling Eyvind to seal Juno inside the sun and not make deals with shady serpents. To do this you need to first successfully appeal to his reason and then remind him that “This isn’t what Juno wanted”.
During this whole conversation you will gather “points” with Eyvind (each properly chosen answer gets you a point) and for him to actually listen to you when you tell him at the end that “This isn’t what Juno wanted” you need to gather at least 3 of those “points”.
To make it simple, just chose the first conversation option until you can say “Eyvind, this isn’t what Juno wanted!” (and chose that).
But for those who want to know, here is a list of all “proper” conversation options:

• "We waited, because we trusted you."
  
• "We could have waited at Sigrholm forever, and she would have never come."
  
• "So you will decide who is to be saved?"
  
• "And yet, the dredge child lives on, even now."
  
• "We overcame that fear. Can you ask for more than that?"
  
• "You'd rather sink the whole ship than try to patch the hole?"
  
• "You've had plenty of time to ask that stonehurler how she feels about it."
  
• "I will continue to hope until the day there's nothing to hope for."
  
• "I might agree, if it were all nothing but misery."
  
• "Three days."
  
• "I only remember that she was not left there to die, thanks to us."

We Made It

Reunite separated family.

For this one, you will need to make sure that Rook/Alette dies during the game, so he/she can meet with the rest of the family in the afterlife at the end of the game. You can achieve that in two ways:

• In Chapter 20, if you do not have a dredge baby form Banner Saga 1 and you open the gate for the dredge, Rook/Alette will die.
  
• In Chapter 21, if you do not manage to get Iver’s caravan to its destination before your doomsday timer completely runs out, meaning: runs out for the sixth time, Rook/Alette will die along with everybody else in Arberrang (refer to “Understanding Arberrang” section of this guide for details on the doomsday timer).

Worse for Wear

Keep Folka from losing her head over Bolverk.

At the end of Chapter 19, when Folka is talking to Bolverk, choose to pull her away. If you do not, Bolwerk will kill her

The Rest of Achievements

Bat out of Hel

Complete Chapter 21 with only one return to Arberrang.

To return to Arberrang only once, you will need to make decisions that gain you the most time with Rook’s/Alette’s caravan and you will have to be as fast as possible with Iver’s caravan in Chapter 21. Although be careful here - if you start with a very strong caravan from Banner Saga 2, buy all the supplies available on the market, make all the great decisions, it is completely possible that you will not return to Arberrang even once (happened to me on my first playthrough. I got 32 days of initial doomsday timer and that was enough for Iver to get to his destination). Refer to “Understanding Arberrang” sections of this guide for more information.

Came a Long Way

Reach the end of Chapter 20 with 300 clansmen.

If you are playing on a save loaded from Banner Saga 2, you most probably have way way more than 300 clansmen already. If you are playing with premade Rook/Alette, you start with 268 clansman. There are several opportunities to gain some clansmen during Chapters 16-20:

• Chapter 16, Rugga’s loyalists ambush: if you chose to help Petrus fight and after the battle agree to Gudmundr joining you (if Gudmundr is alive in your game), you will gain 113 clansmen.
  
• Chapter 16, some people want to join your caravan: agree by saying that any allies are welcome and you will gain 100 clansmen.
  
• Chapter 18, while on your way to Ruin, you find some people that need help: leave your own fighters to protect them to gain 45 clansmen; evacuate as many as you can to gain 94 clansmen; strike at the dredge to gain 54 clansmen or tell them to hide behind your shields to gain 13 clansmen.
  
• Chapter 20, some people who call you “Dredge-killer” stop you and ask for information: tell them you know as much as they to gain 11 clansmen; tell them to hold out hope to gain 112 clansmen; tell them things are bad to gain 57 clansmen.

There is only one event that will make you lose clansmen and it happens automatically. In Chapter 18 the dredge break through the walls and you lose some people in the process. The severity of your loses will depend on the decision you made in Chapter 16:

• If you chose to camp near the gate, you will lose 149 clansmen.
  
• If you chose to camp near the top or let Oddlief decide, you will lose 57 clansmen.
  
• If during the conversation with the king you told him that your clansmen have many needs and they need a safe place, you are camped on a black rock and you will lose nobody.

Peace Offering

Reunite dredge baby with its own kind.

To do that, you need to play on a save in which you saved the dredge baby in Banner Saga 1. In Chapter 20, chose to open the gates for the dredge and the achievement is yours.
This achievement tends to be buggy at the moment and unlocks if you just open the gates for the dredge, whether you have the dredge baby or not.

Poetic Justice

Listen to Aleo's recitation.

At the end of the game, if Arberrang survived, Aleo will offer to recite his latest poem. Agree and you will hear his recitation and get the achievement.

Restless

Never let the Ravens stop for rest.

In Iver’s caravan, through the whole game, you can never rest. That means you can never click on a rest option in the camp. But also you can never allow resting through conversation options. Mostly those options are obvious but there is one tricky one. In Chapter 21, when people get dizzy and want to rest, you will have to chose “Walk it off, milk maides”, as the other two options will lead to you actually taking a rest.
As such, attempting this achievement will not allow you to recover wounds of any characters in Iver's caravan that fell in battle. So if you do not feel confident, try this achievement on Easy difficulty.

The Saga Concludes

Import Save Game from Banner Saga 2.

Self-explanatory.

Survival Mode Achievements, Part 1

The Skirmisher

Survive all battles on Easy.

Self-explanatory.

The Professional

Survive all battles on Normal.

Self-explanatory. Surviving on Normal also unlocks The Skirmisher achievement.

The Berserk

Survive all battles on Hard.

Self-explanatory. Surviving on Hard also unlocks The Skirmisher and The Professional achievements.

Empty Satchel

Survive without using any items.

This one can be done on Easy difficulty and is really, well, easy on that difficulty. You can never equip an item on any hero during this run.

Just Some Fantasy

Survive all battles only using varl, horseborn, or dredge Heroes.

This one can be done on Easy difficulty but is also easily doable on Normal (and less easily on Hard). Your party during this run can’t include human heroes at any time. Any number and proportion of varl, horseborn and dredge will do.
On Easy difficulty, you do not really have to bother much about specific setup, anything will do really. But if you are doing it on Normal or even Hard difficulty, there are just few things to keep in mind:

• As you will not have a mender, you should invest in more defensive abilities at least on your frontline heroes (Divert / Dodge / Hunker Down).
  
• There are only two really narrow maps but on those more than three big heroes will be very unwieldy. So try to limit yourself to three big ones (or use titles / items that will allow your characters to move through allies).

The lineup I successfully used for this one: Kivi (Bloodletter), Iver (The Mountain), Ubin (The Foolish), Canary (Monster Killer), Castaway (The Forsaken), Apostate (The Wolf).

The Wave Breaker

Survive every extra wave in a wave battle (Normal or Hard).

You can never chose to flee between waves. But you do not have to finish each wave in time (you do not have to get a respite between waves).

A Fallen Few

Survive with fewer than 20 Heroes dying (Normal or Hard).

Self-explanatory and will most probably just happen on your first run.

Together or Not At All

Survive without a single Hero dying (Normal or Hard).

If a hero dies on you, you can just use one of your reloads to retry the battle. If the death happens early in a run (somewhere at battles 1-5 let's say), I’d recommend restarting rather than wasting a reload.

Make it Count

Survive in less than 500 turns for your total turns (Normal or Hard).

Now this one is harder to do. You really need to focus and employ rather a reckless strategy than a defensive one. There are 30 battles, which gives you just a bit over 16.5 turns per battle - of course with an assumption that you will do easier ones faster than that to give yourself more time for harder, longer ones.
There is absolutely no time for waves in this one, so always choose “flee”, and I propose doing it on Normal difficulty (as enemies will fall faster).
You need a party that will do a fair job of hurting your enemies practically every turn. Generally run and gun, always run and gun. Remember to use your willpower on movement and additional damage as needed - don’t save it, the fights won’t last long anyway. Don’t forget about the horn and the Valka staff damage. The party that worked for me here:

• Alette (Monster Killer) - Overwatch can be employed from the first turn, when you don’t even reach your enemies yet, to lay in wait for them to come. And the benefit of damaging several enemies in one turn while getting stronger from every kill in undeniable.
  
• Kivi (Bloodletter) - Kindle combos great with both Overwatch (as it knocks back, triggering Alettes attack) and Bloodletter (multiple enemies will be bleeding); Drumfire is awesome for hurting non-dredge enemies that you can't reach just yet - no turn wasted.
  
• Ubin (The Foolish) - great passive strength damage buff for everyone around; Tempest as second ability; Reveal Weakness is great for killing enemies even if Ubin is not in range (no turn wasted), as well as for beating down a foe in one turn.
  
• Rook (The Wolf - for additional damage and movement) - great choice because of higher strength and being ranged; Mark for the Hunt is also awesome here, albeit situational.
  
• Cannary (The Unmoved - just for additional strength) - with 16 strenght Canary hits like a varl, only from a distance. Her Poison Tip ability also comes in handy for finishing off higher armor foes.
  
• Eyvind (I did not level him but if you want to Oath-Maker will be good - for will and armor regeneration) - lightning people with high armor or those nicely positioned; mend occasionally but I only did that like twice in a whole run - that's just a waste of turn that could be used for killing. As we are short on renown here (we are not doing waves), I chose not to level Eyvind at all - just gave him a defensive item.
  
• I did not do that in my run, but for dredge-heavy fights, you can consider exchanging Canary/Rook for Apostate (no leveling needed) - Rapture rocks for fast dredge killing. Umbrage rocks for rising strength for faster killing overall. Yet it's risky, as our mender is too busy lightning people to mend the lost armor and the general strategy is based on being a bit reckless already. So I would use Umbrage sparingly and with care.

Below I include a number of turns it took me to beat each fight in a successful run, with some notes. So you can compare and know if you’re on the right track :).

1. Battle 1. 16 (Can be done much faster than I did it. Just pick one guy for your team - preferably a fairly fast one. His job is just to run to the gate with all his might. And it can be done even faster - in 2 turns - if you take Zefr and any other character, and use Zefr to cast Breeze on the other guy on turn one. - Thanks to TheIncredibleSkulk for this information)
   
2. Battle 2. 16
   
3. Battle 3. 8
   
4. Battle 4. 15
   
5. Battle 5. 14
   
6. Battle 6. 14
   
7. Battle 7. 16 (dredge present)
   
8. Battle 8. 14 (dredge present)
   
9. Battle 9. 12
   
10. Battle 10. 10 (dredge present)
    
11. Battle 11. 28 (Ruin battle; dredge present; I reloaded this one twice but could not get a better result than 28 turns)
    
12. Battle 12. 14 (dredge present)
    
13. Battle 13. 12 (dredge present)
    
14. Battle 14. 11
    
15. Battle 15. 26 (Ridgehorn battle; reinforcements coming during the battle, dredge present)
    
16. Battle 16. 13
    
17. Battle 17. 16 (You have three near-useless menders here and their turns also count to your total, so take those guys out there and make them smash something weakened at least)
    
18. Battle 18. 14 (dredge present)
    
19. Battle 19. 17 (dredge present)
    
20. Battle 20. 13 (dredge present)
    
21. Battle 21. 13 (dredge present)
    
22. Battle 22. 13 (dredge present)
    
23. Battle 23. 21
    
24. Battle 24. 10
    
25. Battle 25. 18 (dredge present)
    
26. Battle 26. 19 (dredge present)
    
27. Battle 27. 20 (reinforcements coming during the battle, a bit of dredge)
    
28. Battle 28. 26 (reinforcements coming during the battle, a bit of dredge)
    
29. Battle 29. 23 (reinforcements coming during the battle, a bit of dredge)
    
30. Battle 30. I had 37 turns left for the last battle. Made it in 34 :).

Survival Mode Achievements, Part 2

Zefr’s Wind

Survive in less than 200 minutes for your total turns (Normal or Hard).

To be honest, 200 minutes is plenty of time. You will most probably get this one without even trying. You can easily do all the waves and even farm renown in the first battle (by not running to the gate but just killing enemies as they come until they come no more) - you will still make it.
Probably the only way you can fail that one is if you use all the time you have (all 30 seconds) to make a decision every turn / most turns. So just don't dilly-dally and you will be fine.

Lovers in a Dangerous Warped Time

Survive with Alette & Egil, Rook & Oddleif, Ro'Ech & Derdriu, or Juno & Eyvind in every battle (Normal or Hard).

You need to have at least one of the enumerated pairs in each battle throughout the whole playthrough (Alette & Egil, Rook & Oddleif, Ro'Ech & Derdriu, Juno & Eyvind). In my opinion, it is the easiest to do with Alette and Egil as their skills compliment each other well. So keep your two chosen heroes alive and together and the achievement is yours.

Krumr’s Mentor

Survive Hard Mode without a single reload.

There is of course not one good combination and possibility and this guide is not meant to enumerate every one of those. Banner Saga 3 is much easier than the second instalment and as a result, Krumr’s Mentor is no longer so frustrating to manage. Of course, you do need to accept the possibility that one of your heroes can die and will have to be replaced. If a death happens to you early (let’s say, battles 1-5), I would just recommend restarting.
The party that worked awesomely for me, with no deaths on only just second try:

• Alette (Monster Killer) - for Overwatch! Monster Killer is great as Alette will get stronger with each kill, which can both make her more effective and save her life if she was bludgeoned by some enemy. At the last Bolverk battle, I got Alette to 50 strength (without using Umbrage)! Max Alette’s Artillery Strike and Lucky Shot talents, max her Stubborn talent too so she can replenish her willpower. Equip her with knockback item (so she can interrupt a turn of every enemy she damages and knocks back with Overwatch) if you can find one. Knockback items are sadly rare and appear randomly. I had some luck and got Horn of Toivonen somewhere around the middle of the run, also saw Stravh's Bond as a reward of the battle 30 (bit too late ;)) and the Obsidian Powder to buy on another run. I had runs where I saw no knockback items at all. So alternatively you can equip Alette with any item that increases her Strength, damage, critical chance or add to her talents. For example, Harlaugr (+3 STR Talents; +3 WIL Talents; 2 STR Resist; +2 WIL) works very nicely.
  
• Kivi (Bloodletter) – I think that Bloodletter is great with both Kindle and Drumfire as you make several enemies bleed at once. And with Kindle you additional push them away to trigger Overwatch. I found following combination of skills good: Dodge / Divert / Hunker Down / Artillery Strike. Warrior's Beret is an awesome piece of equipment for both Kivi and Iver here (Move through allies; Never Deflected; +50% Crit Chance; +2 AGGRO; +2 All Talents). Makes them much more mobile and more effective killing machines.
  
• Egil (The Granite One) – Guts talent makes a great combo with Overwatch enhanced with Monster KIller, as it pushes enemies away and damages them, making it more probable that Alette will finish them off and buff herself in a process. And Egil is a nice stone wall otherwise. I found following combination of skills good: Dodge / Divert / Hunker Down / Artillery Strike / Stubborn.
  
• Iver (The Foolish or The Mountain if you would like a more defensive Iver) – Cause ruining into the middle of your enemies to Tempest them is fun and Foolish makes it even more profitable. I found following combination of skills good: Dodge / Divert / Hunker Down / Artillery Strike.
  
• Apostate (The Wolf - could be The Wanderer but Wolf has the added benefit of lessened aggro) – purely because I really hate Apostates limited movement and that makes him more mobile, so he can back away or come and smash somebody if he is not Rapturing or Umbraging. Rapture is great for killing loads of weakened dredge fast - do not use it though if you would rather have Alette gain some strength for finishing off those foes (especially good in wave battles). Umbrage is a great buff - throw it at the beginning of the fight and your party becomes that much stronger. Eyvind can mend the lost armor. And Apostate himself running around and giving disease to the foes with his attacks is not bad at all.
  
• Eyvind (The Whisper) – makes Eyvind much less noticeable and allows him to move better around the battlefield if you see a good opportunity for some lightning strike. I gave Eyvind all defensive skills: Dodge / Divert / Hunker Down / Robust and thrown in Stubborn on top. Equip him with an willpower regeneration item or with a defensive item. If you like using Umbrage a lot, make Eyvind an Oath-Maker instead of a Whisper - Oath-Maker will allow Eyvind to regain his armor as he cannot mend himself. Or just equip him with armor regeneration item (e.g. Meadspring Bottle).

Iver could be exchanged with Ubin as their stats are similar and Ubin’s passive buff to strength is nice. Also, his Reveal Weakness ability comes in handy sometimes to beat down a foe.

Eternal Arena Achievements, Part 1

With one exception, Eternal Arena achievements are not hard to do. But most of them will require you to play Eternal Arena a lot. A lot, a lot. They are for truly dedicated.

BEWARE OF THE BUG: There exists a strange bug - your achievement counters for Eternal Arena can get reset. Eternal Arena Master saves do not work well with Steam Cloud and do not get backed up correctly, they seem to be always replaced by a local save. So, if you reinstall your system, your master save will be wiped-out and your achievement counters will be reset. If you try to play Eternal Arena on two or more different computers - same thing, your progress will not carry over and your achievement counters will reset to the last state from a save file the game can find locally.
However, some have reported this reset occurring randomly, for no apparent reason at all.
The only current workaround is to just back up your save periodically and if the reset happens to you, just copy your backed up save and overwrite the broken, reset one. The saves for Eternal Arena are found in two locations (an you will need to put your backup in both of them):

• Steam\userdata\[your user number]\485460\remote\save\saga3e (Steam folder is found by default in Program Files folder on your system drive, unless you installed your steam somewhere else)
  
• C:\Users\[your username]\AppData\Roaming\TheBannerSaga3\Local Store\save\saga3e (this is location on Windows 10. On Mac/Linux this location will of course be different)

Number of challenges played

A new Challenge appears every 7 days. You need to play the Challenge once for it to count towards those achievements. It does not matter weather you win or loose. To unlock the last level of this achievement group (“Eternal Challenger”), you will need to participate in every Challenge for a whooping 3 years straight.

Challenger
Play in an Eternal Challenge


Weekly Challenger
Play in 3 different Eternal Challenges


Monthly Challenger
Play in 8 different Eternal Challenges


Seasoned Challenger
Play in 13 different Eternal Challenges


Half Year Challenger
Play in 26 different Eternal Challenges


Annual Challenger
Play in 52 different Eternal Challenges


Yearly Challenger
Play in 104 different Eternal Challenges


Eternal Challenger
Play in 156 different Eternal Challenges

Enemies defeated with one hero

Enemies can be defeated in the Challenges and in the self-made Arenas – both count. As a pool of heroes is almost always limited during the Challenges, you will not always have access to every hero there. But in the Arenas you make on your own, you can have every hero you want. Just defeat enough people with your chosen paragon.

The Body
Defeat 10 enemies with any one hero


Axe Thrower
Defeat 100 enemies with any one hero


Death's Messenger
Defeat 1,000 enemies with any one hero

Enemies defeated

Enemies can be defeated in the Challenges and in the self-made Arenas – both count.

Bloody Flail
Defeat 100 enemies


Slaughterer
Defeat 1,000 enemies


Monster Killer
Defeat 10,000 enemies

If you are having trouble unlocking this one while just playing the weekly challenges, create your own tailor-made arena. Create any arena with waves and with easy Dredge as enemies, and send in the "Monster Killer" Apostate - Rapture will easily and swiftly dispatch all the enemies, while the "Monster Killer" will buff your hero and keep him alive. Rinse and repeat until you gather 10,000 kills.

Armor damage

This damage can be taken in the Challenges and in the self-made Arenas – both count.

Shield Wall
Take 100 points of ARM damage


Mender
Take 1,000 points of ARM damage


The Foolish
Take 10,000 points of ARM damage

If you are having trouble unlocking this one while just playing the weekly challenges, create your own tailor-made arena. Create any easy arena and send in Kiwi (or Bastion) with a team of high-armor heroes. Gather your heroes around Kiwi and use Kindle to break their armor. Repeat until there is no armor left to break and just leave the arena. Rinse and repeat until you gather 10,000 armor break points.

Break damage

This damage can be dealt in the Challenges and in the self-made Arenas – both count.

Battering Ram
Break 100 points of ARM


Backbiter
Break 1,000 points of ARM


Shield Cleaver
Break 10,000 points of ARM

Eternal Arena Achievements, Part 2

Strenght damage

This damage can be dealt in the Challenges and in the self-made Arenas – both count.

Heavy Impacts
Do 100 points of STR damage


Strong Arm
Do 1,000 points of STR damage


Bloodletter
Do 10,000 points of STR damage

Spending willpower

You can spend this willpower in the Challenges and in the self-made Arenas – both count. And remember about the Horn of Willpower, if available, to give yourself even more Willpower to spend.

Skald's Song
Spend 50 WIL on extra movement, abilities, or extra damage


Valka
Spend 500 WIL on extra movement, abilities, or extra damage


Oath-Maker
Spend 5,000 WIL on extra movement, abilities, or extra damage

Victory

Victories in Challenges and in self-made Arenas count for this.

A Tale Worth Telling
Be victorious in the arena 10 times


Warleader
Be victorious in the arena 50 times


The Unbent
Be victorious in the arena 100 times

Defeat

Defeats in Challenges and in self-made Arenas count for this.

Fail Early
Be defeated in an arena 10 times


Fail Often
Be defeated in an arena 20 times


Fail Forward
Be defeated in an arena 30 times

Type of arena

Each Challenge and each Arena you make uses a map from either BS1, BS2 or BS3. Those three achievements you can very easily do by just creating Arenas on BS1, BS2, BS3 maps respectively and playing those Arenas.

Your Saga Began
Play in 10 arenas from Banner Saga 1


Your Saga Continued
Play in 10 arenas from Banner Saga 2


Your Saga Ended
Play in 10 arenas from Banner Saga 3

The rest

Eternal Arena Champion
Be on top of the leaderboard at the end of an Eternal Challenge!
And here we have the only actually challenging achievement of the Eternal Arena. When you play a Challenge, you accumulate points and negative points for: usage of a special rule, kills, hero deaths, number of rounds taken, victory/defeat. All those accumulate at the end and give you your final score. If you manage to get the most points and sit on top of the leaderboards when the Challenge ends, achievement is yours.
Note: You do not have to be number one exactly. The achievement will also unlock if you have the same amount of points as the person in the 1st place.


Arena Author
Create and play in an arena
Create any Arena you want and play it. You don’t even have to finish it, just start.


Arena Saver
Save an arena you created
Create any Arena you want and play it. When you finish, whether you win or loose, you will get an option to save your Arena. Do it.


Scrivener
Save an Eternal Challenge arena
When you finish a Challenge, whether you win or loose, you will get an option to save it. That saves the setup of the Challenge for you locally so you can play it later, even after the Challenge itself already ended. Saving gives you the achievement.

[fabula_rasa]

@Zctym Thanks for confirming! I changed the description to reflect this info.

[Zctym]

Hevi was right. "Guided" achievement can be succeed with default saves. Rook/Alette can die when gates open

[soverayn]

any tips for the Eternal Arena Champion achievement ? it's the only one I'm missing

[fabula_rasa]

@Elwin Wow, that's quite impressive. I had no idea it's even possible to do Wave Breaker and Make it Count in one go. That's quite a fast slaughter ;). Congratulations!

[Elwin]

Nice guide, I made wave breaker+ make it count in one run with a party you suggested for krumrs mentor run without evne trying yo attempt make it count.
Also locked out of dredge slayer because of baby though..

[David]

I finally got "Dregde Slayer". Started a new game, did not import an old save file (so I did not have the baby with me) and did what fabula_rasa described in the guide above. Thanks again!

[lytane]

Thank you so much for this guide. It really helped when it came to getting all of the achievements in the game. I'll also confirm that having the Dredge baby locks you out of the Dredge Slayer. I wish I had known that all the way in BS1 so I would have done one of my two playthroughs without that baby. That would have meant I could get all of the achievements in THIS game in 2 playthroughs. Oh well!!

[fabula_rasa]

@Hunter @David Thanks for the info! I had no idea that the baby could be screwing this one up.I included a note about the baby and playing on an pre-made instead of imported.

[David]

Source: https://forum.psnprofiles.com/topic/86158-dredge-slayer-bugged/

@fabula_rasa: Maybe you can add that to your guide. Thanks!

[David]

@Hunter: Thank you. That's the reason why I could not get the achievement with an imported save file, since I took the baby with me in all of my play-throughs.

If you want to get this achievement without editing the code, start a new game (do not import an save file from Banner Saga 2) and go on as described by fabula_rasa or Hunter.